Green Lantern (1960) 78

Green Lantern (1960) 78

Jul 1970

A Kind of Loving, a Way of Death!

by Denny O’Neill, Neal Adams, Frank Giacoia, John Costanza, Julius Schwartz

Black Canary gets assaulted by four bikers who want her motorcycle. She holds her own, at first, but then one of them blindsides her with a motorcycle. They leave her in the road. Someone else finds her and carries her away. 

Hal and Ollie arrive in a small town in Indian territory. They grab a bite to eat but their meal is interrupted by the same bikers who left Black Canary for dead. The bikers beat up the owner and are ready to trash the joint when Green Lantern and Green Arrow step in and set things straight.

Green Arrow recognizes Black Canary’s motorcycle. Superman built it for her. He asks the biker who was riding it about Black Canary. He starts beating the biker when he isn’t satisfied when th the answers he’s getting. Green Lantern pulls him off the biker and they go looking for Dinah. 

Hal and Ollie encounter Black Canary in the company of Joshua, the leader of a cult. She doesn’t remember who they are. Green Arrow tries kissing her but it doesn’t help. She leaves with Joshua. 

Green Lantern and Green Arrow get into an argument over what was up with Dinah. Ollie thinks something is strange about the way she’s acting. Hal thinks that she has just lost interest in her former lover. 

They eventually track down and deal with Joshua, and rescue Black Canary. 

Thoughts

The quote that introduces this story in the Hard Traveling Heroes trade paperback is “I’m a leavin’ tomorrow, but I could leave today, somewhere down the road someday. The very last thing that I’d want to do is to say I’ve been hittin’ some hard travelin’ too.” from Song to Woody by Bob Dylan. 

There’s a bandage on Dinah’s face in one panel. It disappears the next time her face is shown and then reappears mysteriously. All this happens within the same scene.

The Guardian who is traveling with Green Lantern and Green Arrow drops out of the story after the encounter in the Indian town. He isn’t around for the confrontation with Joshua and the rescue of Black Canary. 

I thought it was a bit odd that Black Canary seemed to fall under Joshua’s sway so easily. They don’t show the moment when he hypnotizes her for the first time so maybe I’m being a bit too critical. Hal and Ollie have had their moments where they have screwed up so maybe she is getting the same sort of treatment. 

I can’t argue with Neal Adams artistic abilities. He does a wonderful job with the layouts and the way he depicts the fights. I don’t disagree with the general tone of the story it’s just that looking back at it now, a little over 50 years later, it seems a bit rushed. I don’t love this story. I think it needed a little more time to breathe.